Vane assembly

ABSTRACT

A sintered metal vane hub and a vane blade formed of an epoxy and woven glass cloth laminate are assembled by die casting magnesium or injecting plastic into recesses on the hub and blade. The vane is shown in a semi-articulated vane pump used to inject air into the exhaust system of a vehicle engine.

United States Patent 1191 Hyde et a1. Feb. 5, 1974 VANE ASSEMBLY v [751 Inventors: A. P. Stanley Hyde; Leo F. ['56] References Cited LaFramboise, both of Saginaw, UNITED STATES PATENTS Mich- 2,001,011 5/1935 Brown .[418/138 3,012,754 12/1961 Stalker 416/213 [73] Assgnec' 5:52; C0mpany D 3,370,785 2/1968 Pasek et a1 418/137 [22] Filed: Nov. 20, 1972 Primary Examiner-A1 Lawrence Smith 1 Assistant ExaminerJohn J. Vrablik [2]] Appl' 308138 Attorney, Agent, or FirmC.- K. Veenstra Related US Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 176,836, Sept. 1, [57] ABSTRACT 1971 abandoned 'A sintered metal vane hub and a vane blade formed of an epoxy and woven glass cloth laminate are assem- [52] US. Cl 418/137, 211860125123, 411681217191, bled by die casting magnesium or injecting plastic into recesses on the hub-and blade. The vane is shown in a {g i' 4 5 3 52 49 9 semi-articulated vane pump used to inject air into the 416/213; 29/156.8 CF; 164/108, 110, 111; 425/DIG. 58

exhaust system of a vehicle engine 7 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures VANE ASSEMBLY This application is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No.

176,836 filed Sept. l, I971 now abandoned.

This invention relates to a vane assembly for an air pump or the like which is an improvement over the prior art vane assemblies by its simplicity of construction and ease of manufacture.

In brief, the vane assembly provided by this invention includes a hub adapted for mounting the vane assembly on a shaft and a blade having one or more tabs extending adjacent the hub. The hub and the attaching tab are formed to provide recesses, and the blade and hub are assembled by die-castingor otherwise molding magnesium or other materials thereabout. The magnesium or other material flows into the recesses during the diecasting or molding operation to retain the hub and the blade in a firmly interlocked assembly.

The details as well as other objects and advantages of this invention are set forth in the remainder of the specification and are shown in the drawings in which:

F IG. 1 is a side elevational view of a semi-articulated vane air pump, taken in section generally as indicated along line 1-1 of FIG. 2, showing one embodiment of this vane assembled in the air-pump;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of the pump of FIG. 1, taken in section generally as indicated along line 2-2 of FIG. 1, showing additional details of the pump and the vane; 7

FIG. 3 is an end view of one embodiment of the vane assembly, taken in section generally along line 3-3 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the vane assembly of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an end view of another embodiment of the vane assembly, taken in section generally along line 5-5 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 6 is an elevational view FIG. 5; i v

FIG. 7 is an end view of an additional embodiment of of the vane assembly of the vane assembly, taken in section generally along line .to the extent necessary to indicate the manner in which the vane assembly of this invention is intended to be used.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, an air pump 10 has a cast aluminum hcusingl2 closed by a cover plate 14. As shown in FIG. 2, the interior'wall 16 of housing 12 is of circular cross-section. A rotor 18, formed as a steel impact extrusion, is disposed in housing 12 on an axis eccentric to the axis of the housing. The wall 20 of rotor18 is of circular cross-section and is tangent the interior wall 16 of housing 12 at its lowermost point to provide a stripping land 22. If desired, a plurality of grooves 24 may be formed in stripping land 22 to reduce pump noise.

The interior wall 16 of housing-l2 is recessed on opposite sides of stripping land 22 to form an inlet chamber'26 and an outlet chamber 28.

A shaft is securedin cover plate 14 and extends into housing 12 concentrically with the interior wall 16. A pair of vanes 32 are mounted on shaft 30. Each vane 32 extends out to the interior wall 16 of housing 12 through slots 34 in rotor 18. Rotor 18 has an integral shaft 36 extending through an end wall 38 of housing 12. A hub 40 is pressed onto shaft 36, and a pulley may be bolted to hub 40 to drive rotor 18.

As rotor 18 is driven counterclockwise, vanes 32 are swept through'the crescent-shaped working chamber 42 to draw air from inlet chamber 26 and direct a pressurized stream of air into outlet 28.

As shown in FIG. 2, metal liners 44 are spot welded within rotor 18. Liners 44 have slots 48 through which the vanes 32 extend and form channels adjacent vanes 32 which support graphite drive and follower bearing shoe strips 50 and 52. Leaf-type springs 54 bias follower shoes 52 against vanes 32.

Vane 32 is shown separately in FIGS. 3 and 4. Referring thereto, a pair of counter-weighted sintered metal hubs 56 each have a central opening 58 adapted, as shown in FIG. 1, to be-received on shaft 30 and supported, if necessary, by roller bearings 60. Extending axiallyalong each side of hubs 56 are dovetail slots or grooves 62. A blade 64, stamped from a sheet of epoxy resin and woven glass cloth laminate, abuts hubs 56. As shown in FIG. 4, blade 64 comprises a main portion 66 having a pair of attaching tabs 68 adjacent hubs 56. Each attaching tab 68 tapers, at 70, so that the portion of tab 68 abutting the associated hub 56 has an axial dimension greater than the portion of tab 68 adjacent main portion 66, and an'undercut or recessed region 72 is provided thereby.

Blade 64 is assembled to hubs 56 by die casting a pair of magnesium retainers 74 about hubs 56 and vane 64, the magnesium flowing into grooves 62 and recesses 72 to retain hubs 56 and blade 64 in an interlocked assembly 32.

, Another embodiment of the vane, designated 32a, is

shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Referring thereto, a pair of counter-weighted sintered metal hubs 56a each have a central opening 58a adapted, as shown in FIG. 1, to be received on shaft 30 and supported, if necessary, by roller bearings 60. Extending axially along each side of hubs 56a are dovetail slots-or grooves 62a. A blade 64a, stamped from a sheet of epoxy resin and woven glass cloth laminate, abuts hubs 56a. As shown in FIG. 6,

blade 64a comprises a main portion 66a having a pair of attaching tabs 68a adjacent hubs 56a. Each attaching tab 68a has one or more openings 71a so that the portion of tab 68a abutting the associated hub 56a has an axial dimension greater than the portion of tab 68a adjacent main portion 66a. I

Blade 64a is assembled to hubs 56a by die casting a pair of magnesium retainers 74a about hubs 56a and vane 64a, the magnesium flowing into grooves 62a and openings 71a to retain hubs 56a and blade 64a in an interlocked assembly 32a.

An additional embodiment of the vane, designated 32b, is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 Referring thereto, a pair of counter-weighted sintered metal hubs 56b each have a central opening 58b adapted, as shown in FIG. 1, to be received on shaft 30 and supported, if necessary, by roller bearings 60. Each hub 56b has an axially extending slot 61b provided with inwardly opening slots or grooves 62b. A blade 64b, stamped from a sheet of epoxy resin and woven glass cloth laminate, abuts hubs 56b. As shown in FIG. 6, blade 64b comprises a main portion 66b having a pair of attaching tabs 68b adjacent hubs 56b. Each attaching tab 68b has an opening 71b so that the portion of tab 68b abutting the associated hub 56b has an axial dimension greater than the portion of tab 68b adjacent main portion 66b.

Blade 64b is assembled to hubs 56b by injection molding a plastic retainer 74b about hubs 56b and vane 64b, the plastic flowing into grooves 62b and openings 71b to retain hubs 56b and blade 64b in an interlocked assembly 32b.

Pump was designed for the primary purpose of injecting air into the exhaust system of a vehicle engine, the air so injected supporting combustion of, undesirable exhaust gas constituents in the exhaust system. It will be appreciated, however, that pump 10 would be useful to supply air or other fluids for other purposes and that vane assembly 32 could advantageously be used in such other applications of pump 10 as well as in other designs of fluid pumps and rotors.

We claim:

l. A vane assembly for an air pump or the like comprising:' I

a hub having a shaft-receiving opening extending axially therethrough and having an axially extending groove formed therein,

a vane blade extending radially from said hub, said blade including a main blade portion remote from said hub and a blade-attaching tab portion adjacent said hub, the axial dimension of said tab portion being larger adjacent said hub than adjacent said main blade portion,

' and means molded about said hub and said blade and received in said groove and about said tab portion to retain said hub and said blade in an interlocked vane assembly.

2. The vane assembly of claim 1 wherein said molded means comprises die-cast magnesium.

3. The vane assembly of claim 1 wherein said hub is formed of a sintered metal.

4. The vane assembly of claim 1 wherein said vane is formed of a woven glass cloth and epoxy laminate.

5. A vane assembly for an air pump or the like comprising: v

a hub having a shaft receiving opening extending axially therethrough and having an axially extending groove formed therein,

a vane blade extending radially from said hub, said blade including a main blade portion remote from 4 said hub and a blade-attaching tab portion adjacent said hub, said tab portion having an opening extending transversely therethrough whereby the axial dimension of said tab portion is larger adjacent said hub thanadjacent said main blade portion,

and means molded about said hub and said bladeattaching tab portion and received in said groove and said opening to retain said hub and said blade in an interlocked vane assembly.

6. A vane assembly for an air pump or the like comprising:

a hub having a shaft-receiving opening extending axially therethrough and having a groove extending axially along the side thereof,

a vane blade extending radially from said hub, said blade including a main blade portion remote from said hub and a blade-attachin g tab portion adjacent said hub, the axial dimension of said tab portion being larger adjacent said hub than adjacent said main blade portion to define an undercut region of said tab portion between said hub and said main blade portion,

and means molded about said hub and said bladeattaching tab portionand received in said groove and said undercut region to retain said hub and said blade in an interlocked vane assembly.

7. A vane assembly for an air pump or the like comprising:

a pair of axially spaced hubs each having a shaftreceiving opening extending axially .therethrough and a groove extending axially along each side thereof,

a vane blade extending radially from said hubs, said blade including amain blade portion remote from said hubs and a blade-attaching tab portion adjacent each of said hubs, one of said tab portions having both edges thereof tapered from said main blade portion toward its associated hub and the other of said tab portions having at least one edge thereof tapered from said main blade portion toward its associated hub whereby the axial dimension of said tab portions is larger adjacent said hubs than adjacent said main blade portion to define undercut regions of said tab portions between said hubs and said main blade portion,

and means molded about said hubs and said bladeattaching tab portions and received in said grooves and said undercut regions to retain said hubs and said blade in an interlocked vane assembly.

! i i i l 173x3 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. Q

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,790,317 Dated February 5, 1974 Inventor(s) A. P. Stanley Hyde et al It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Cover page, [73] Assigneez, "Company" should be 1 Corporation After the Abstract, "7 Claims" should be 8Claims Claim 8 should be added as follows:

8. A vane assembly for an air pump or the like comprising:

a hub having a shaft-receiving opening extending axially therethrough and having an axially extending groove,

a vane blade extending radially from said hub, said blade including a main blade portion remote from said hub and a blade-attachingv tab portion adjacent said hub, said tab portion having, a configuration defining a surface facing. said main blade portion, g

and means molded about said hub and said blade-attaching tab portion and received by said groove and said surface to retain said hub and said blade in an interlocked vane assembly.

Signed and sealed this 15th day of August 197 (SEAL) Attest:

McCOY M. GIBSON, JR. C, MARSHALL DANN Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

1. A vane assembly for an air pump or the like comprising: a hub having a shaft-receiving opening extending axially therethrough and having an axially extending groove formed therein, a vane blade extending radially from said hub, said blade including a main blade portion remote from said hub and a blade-attaching tab portion adjacent said hub, the axial dimension of said tab portion being larger adjacent said hub than adjacent said main blade portion, and means molded about said hub and said blade and received in said groove and about said tab portion to retain said hub and said blade in an interlocked vane assembly.
 2. The vane assembly of claim 1 wherein said molded means comprises die-cast magnesium.
 3. The vane assembly of claim 1 wherein said hub is formed of a sintered metal.
 4. The vane assembly of claim 1 wherein said vane is formed of a woven glass cloth and epoxy laminate.
 5. A vane assembly for an air pump or the like comprising: a hub having a shaft receiving opening extending axially therethrough and having an axially extending groove formed therein, a vane blade extending radially from said hub, said blade including a main blade portion remote from said hub and a blade-attaching tab portion adjacent said hub, said tab portion having an opening extending transversely therethrough whereby the axial dimension of said tab portion is larger adjacent said hub than adjacent said main blade portion, and means molded about said hub and said blade-attaching tab portion and received in said groove and said opening to retain said hub and said blade in an interlocked vane assembly.
 6. A vane assembly for an air pump or the like comprising: a hub having a shaft-receiving opening extending axially therethrough and having a groove extending axially along the side thereof, a vane blade extending radially from said hub, said blade including a main blade portion remote from said hub and a blade-attaching tab portion adjacent said hub, the axial dimension of said tab portion being larger adjacent said hub than adjacent said main blade portion to define an undercut region of said tab portion between said hub and said main blade portion, and means molded about said hub and said blade-attaching tab portion and received in said groove and said undercut region to retain said hub and said blade in an interlocked vane assembly.
 7. A vane assembly for an air pump or the like comprising: a pair of axially spaced hubs each having a shaft-receiving opening extending axially therethrough and a groove extending axially along each side thereof, a vane blade extending radially from said hubs, said blade including a main blade portion remote from said hubs and a blade-attaching tab portion adjacent each of said hubs, one of said tab portions having both edges thereof tapered from said main blade portion toward its associated hub and the other of said tab portions having at least one edge thereof tapered from said main blade portion toward its associated hub wheReby the axial dimension of said tab portions is larger adjacent said hubs than adjacent said main blade portion to define undercut regions of said tab portions between said hubs and said main blade portion, and means molded about said hubs and said blade-attaching tab portions and received in said grooves and said undercut regions to retain said hubs and said blade in an interlocked vane assembly. 